


where our mark is to be made

by mallahanmoxie (doityourselfbombs)



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: FIx It, Gen, I accidentally wrote dunclaus into this, Reunion, ignore it or don’t
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 16:24:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15755427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doityourselfbombs/pseuds/mallahanmoxie
Summary: Two figures wash ashore Briny Beach.





	where our mark is to be made

**Author's Note:**

> “when they grab you by your ankles,  
> where our mark is to be made,  
> you’ll soon be doing noble work,  
> although you won’t be paid.”  
> —The Littlest Snicket Lad

Briny Beach was not much of a tourist attraction, even on the best of days. Its’ shores were littered with tide pools and hills, making it hard to engage in long, romantic walks down the beach, and the waves were either approaching small tsunamis or entirely nonexistent. During the hot days of summer, the beaches were filled with locals dressed in fluorescent colour and rickety umbrellas. When the days turned colder, the beach’s unusual wave patterns and tide pools could be put to use by aspiring inventors or researchers.Now, however, the shores were speckled with the wreckage of a boat.

 

Near the wreckage sat a boy, knees pulled to his chest, staring out at the ocean mindlessly. He was much older than the teenaged body he resided in, and a bit of that age showed in his tired eyes. Klaus Baudelaire had grown since the island. His hair was longer, curling at the ends from the humidity. His clothing, ragged and stained by seawater, stretched across his frame.

 

His sister Sunny sat beside him. She, too, had grown, although that was to be expected of a toddler. She would not be the size of a loaf of bread forever.

 

“Dack,” she said, a word which here meant “Where do you think Violet and baby Beatrice have gone?”

 

Klaus shrugged. He had stayed up all night with the baby, and far into the morning, and seemed content to let his elder sister care for her for the moment.

 

Farther down the beach, Violet Baudelaire rocked the young infant Beatrice in her arms. The baby was going through a phase right now, which seemed to mean she was intent on making as much noise as possible. At the moment, she seemed to be happy, which Violet would be greatful for if she wasn’t squealing enthusiastically into her ear.

 

The morning was as tedious and uneventful as every other morning had been.

 

The perfect image was interrupted by the sight of Violet running down the beach towards them. She thrust Bea into Klaus’s unsuspecting arms, yelling,

 

“Hold the baby!”

 

“Why?”

 

But she was already tying her hair up with her frayed ribbon, searching the boat wreckage around them for something. Klaus took Beatrice and watched as his sister scooped up a rope and tied it around her waist, securing a too-small life raft to her body. She tied another rope around that and handed the other end to Klaus.

 

“When I tell you, I need you to pull me back in,” she told him. With that, she ran down the beach and into the water.

 

“What do you think she’s doing?” he asked Sunny. Beatrice squeaked in response. Shielding his eyes from the sunlight, he peered out onto the horizon. The waves looked as barren as ever – except no, bobbing in the distance, he could make out the shape of something coming towards them. Two figures.

 

“Quagmires!” Sunny said. He didn’t have to translate to know what that meant.

 

“Could it really be them?” He asked, afraid to let himself hope. They hadn’t seen their friends in months, maybe a year. He had been starting to suspect they were dead.

 

But as the shape came closer, he realized that it was. Two figures sat atop a raft, or maybe a piece of wood, both too small to be adults but too big to be children. He placed young Beatrice in her cradle (built by Violet, of course) and ran to the edge of the water.

 

Violet had reached the two triplets, who seemed to be flapping their arms like birdsand screaming.

 

“Gull,” Sunny said, which meant “Maybe the Quagmires have been in the self sustaining hot air mobile home for so long that they think they’re birds.”

 

“That seems unlikely,” Klaus said, watching as one figure disappeared underneath the water, followed by the other. He could not tell them apart yet, but the violent waves did seem to be moving them closer.

 

A few moments passed. One figure came back up, attaching themselves to Violet quickly. The other didn’t come up so quickly. Klaus and Sunny watched, frozen, waiting for the other triplet to break the surface. The waves rocked them closer to shore.

 

Finally, after what felt like eternity, the second triplet popped out of the water. They seemed to roll backwards, lacking the grace of the other sibling. Klaus saw Violet reach out to grab them, then screamed,

 

“Now, Klaus! Pull!”

 

He pulled. The waves helped a little, but the strain of pulling three bodies had him panting and out of breath. He could see them now, bobbing in the waves. Isadora waved at him with a free hand, her smile wide. Duncan was draped over Violet’s shoulder.

 

“Just a bit longer,” he said to Sunny, and leaned into the pull. The three came ashore just as a wave crashed over their heads, soaking the group of them.

 

Violet was the first to speak. She stood, dropping the makeshift life vest, and looked around at everyone.

 

“Are you all okay?”

 

“You’re alive!” Isadora cried. She scrambled to her feet, scooping Violet into a sandy hug. Klaus moved to join, but stopped at the sight of Duncan, still unmoving. He knelt, and hooked his arms underneath the other boy’s to help him move farther away from the ocean.

 

“Of course we’re alive!” Violet said, holding Isadora out to look at her. “We thought– we heard–“ she stammered, looking to Klaus for assistance. “...Eagles.”

 

“Yes, eagles,” she said with a laugh. “It’s okay. After we crashed into the Queequeg, we were rescued by a group of scientists researching whale mating habits. They let us stay on with them for months. When one of their boats went back to shore, all the others went with them – but there went room for seven extra passengers.”

 

Duncan, who had been coughing up seawater for the better part of the story, raised a hand. Klaus put a comforting hand on his back as he wheezed out,

 

“Quigley, Isadora, and I were going to stay on until the second ship went to shore, but at the last minute the expedition had to be extended. Quigley stayed to help with the whales, and Isadora and I were supposed to take the lifeboat to a nearby town.”

 

“Except we capsized,” Isadora added.

 

Violet shook her head sadly. They knew all about marine exposition mishaps.

 

Sunny took Isadora’s hand – the young girl was as tall as her hip now – and grinned at her, showing off the new teeth that had grown over the last few years.

 

“Sept!” she said, a word which here meant, “I’m glad you two are okay!”

 

The moment was interrupted by a wail from the basket, causing both Quagmires to jump.

 

“Was that a baby?”

 

Klaus got to his feet, running to retrieve a screaming Beatrice. Her yells calmed as she settled into his arms, looking around happily at the newcomers.

 

“Isadora, Duncan... this is Beatrice. Kit Snicket’s daughter.”

 

They seemed to understand. Isadora approached the two of them, giving Klaus a warm smile before shifting her attention to the baby.

 

“She’s beautiful.”

 

“She really is,” Klaus said proudly. “We’ve been taking care of her since her mother died. She’s just started crawling.”

 

Duncan stood to get a look at the baby, pressing into Klaus’s shoulder. The contact made his insides squirm; he smiled at Duncan and turned his attention to his sisters, who had joined the huddle.

 

Beatrice looked around, wide eyed, and gave a little squeal of happiness. The six children stood, messy but together. The last two years had not been easy, and the foreseeable future was no better, but they knew now that they had each other. And that was enough.

 

At last, the world was quiet


End file.
